Prep Basketball District Tournaments Heat Up

Prep report

Boys And Girls State Basketball Tournaments Will Be Held At The Same Time For The First Time Ever.

February 13, 1996|By Bill Buchalter of The Sentinel Staff

A year ago, Mainland's boys basketball team won a Class 6A state title a week after girls teams from Evans, Jones, First Academy and Master's Academy advanced to the state tournament.

The journey to the state tourney begins again this week, with a different format, different opportunities and even a different classification for Mainland.

T.T. Toliver returns, but Mainland's quest this year will be in Class 5A, where rival New Smyrna Beach, with Ladarius Halton, already has widened some eyes with two victories over the Bucs.

Mainland won its state title in Tallahassee, and the girls all played in Lakeland a week apart. This time, boys and girls tournaments, for the first time, will be held simultaneously at Lakeland Civic Center.

It's different for Metro Conference schools, as well, with the league split into two districts. Evans, the Metro Conference boys and girls champions, earned the No. 1 seeding in Class 6A, District 5, at Valencia Community College (boys) and Dr. Phillips (girls).

Class 6A, District 6 starts tonight for girls at University and for boys at Boone and concludes with semifinals and finals for both at Boone.

Central Florida's top-ranked teams won't have it easy. If First Academy or Master's Academy, for example, advances to Class A regionals, perennial Panhandle powers Paxton or Laurel Hill will be an obstacle on the road to Lakeland. And Orangewood Christian's boys, ranked No. 2 in Class A, could face top-ranked Malone during regional play.

It's been a great year for Master's, which has lost only to Evans twice, St. Cloud and First Academy and also owns victories over St. Cloud and First Academy. And First Academy's Jennifer Lutrell is closing in on 2,000 career points, and she's only a junior.

Evans' girls are peaking at the right time, and getting senior leader Shawntae Mills back from an injury doesn't hurt. But Trojans coach Bob Gordon is going to take a wait-and-see attitude on all the playoff games being held at the same time. Until this year, girls started practice two weeks before the boys and completed the season one week earlier.

''I know I don't like losing two weeks of fundamentals at the beginning of the year,'' he said. ''Starting at the same time (as boys basketball), I don't know if it hurts the guys as much as the girls. We used that time to teach fundamentals because many girls never have played, and most boys play all the time on the playground.''

The winners and runners-up in each district advance to regional tournaments next week.